April 2000: Nursing staff at Joyce Green Hospital send a letter to chief executive Anne-Marie Dean raising concerns about conditions in A & E. Mrs Dean sent staff a letter saying they were not up to the job. Head of A & E Peter Boylan walked out of the department.
September 2000: Darent Valley opened, replacing Joyce Green. A pensioner spent 12 hours on a trolley on her 94th birthday.
October 2000: A health expert branded the trust's claims trolleys are similar to beds as "nonsense".
January 2001: An outbreak of salmonella.On January 31, the News Shopper launched the "She Must Go" campaign, calling for Mrs Dean's resignation.
February 2001: The News Shopper set up a phone poll to find out what the public thought. We received 200 calls, with 73 per cent of calling for resignation. A worker said Mrs Dean "regularly intimidates staff by screaming and slamming doors".
May 2001: The News Shopper reported a family claimed a premature baby was left in a hospital cot with ants and a needle.
The Press Complaints Commission cleared the News Shopper of any wrongdoing in its "She Must Go" campaign.
August 2001: The News Shopper revealed Darent Valley Hospital was £4.2m in the red and had been ordered to draw up a recovery plan.
October 2001: Alan Milburn's hospital league table revealed Darent Valley was the worst in the country. Mrs Dean was given three months to turn the hospital around.
November 6 2001: Mrs Dean steps down as chief executive.
November 13, 2001 12:42
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